With current corn heads the gathering points must be jackknifed or manually locked for transport and service. This is a time consuming process especially with large heads. This arrangement for supporting the points and covers restricts access to the row unit and hinders cleanout.
Most of these machines have cumbersome hardware to hold down the deck cover. They cannot be quickly opened or closed for cleanout or repair. The machines that do offer quickly engageable latches for points and covers typically have a single latch in the middle of the cover that blocks access to row units.
The system for adjusting the height of a gathering point above the row unit and ground that requires special tools or has loose cumbersome hardware. This makes adjusting the point height a time consuming process.
Furthermore, if two cover release latches are used to secure the deck cover, the farmer must use both hands just to release the cover and has no hands left to lift the cover. This means that two people are required to raise the deck cover and gathering points instead of just one person.